Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Boot Linux, BSD, and OS X from Vista

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the by-your-bootstraps dept.

An anonymous reader writes, "NeoSmart Technologies has just released EasyBCD 1.5, complete with support for Vista, Windows NT/2k/XP, and Windows 9x/ME. EasyBCD 1.5 adds experimental support for dual-booting any of these along with Linux, Mac OS X, or BSD — straight from the Windows Vista bootloader without any additional configuration needed!" From the article: "Windows Vista's new bootmanager is a double-edged sword. It's one of the most powerful booting scripts in existence, and a far cry from the very limiting boot.ini of legacy Windows operating systems. But it overwrites the MBR without a second thought, and doesn't provide any means for users of alternate operating systems and boot managers to use their old system. That's where EasyBCD 1.5 comes in!" EasyBCD 1.5 is free.

11 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. BCD? by convolvatron · · Score: 3, Funny

    i've always found bcd quite easy. just throw away a large fraction of the legitimate encodings...wait, what?

  2. No Wonder by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    EasyBCD 1.5 is free


    Yeah, they get free ads on slashdot, so their adbudget is way low.
  3. Surprise, surprise. by Eideewt · · Score: 5, Funny

    "But it overwrites the MBR without a second thought...."

    Well, who would have expected Microsoft to do that?

  4. Apple is SOOOO Gonna SUE THEM by eno2001 · · Score: 1, Funny

    You're not supposed to be able to boot OS X. The very fact that these guys have gone ahead and enabled a way to boot multiple OSes as well as OS X puts them in completely illegal territory. Apple and the U.S. government established the anti-boot laws to keep people from booting OS X. This was for the protection of both the consumer and Microsoft. Now that people can boot OS X, it's a problem. So these people will be heavily sued by Apple, you can count on that.

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  5. Re:Slashdoted by neersign · · Score: 2, Funny

    already slashdoted

    microsoft overwrote it...

  6. Re:Except for the fact that... by TheGreek · · Score: 2, Funny
    What if you install Vista and Linux on your new Intel-based Mac and would still like to boot into OS X sometimes?
    You can do that already, skipper.
  7. Tinfoil too tight? by Kadin2048 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple and the U.S. government established the anti-boot laws to keep people from booting OS X.

    I'm sorry ... what?

    Are you posting from the future, where the world has been decimated by killer iPods or something?

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  8. That's a nice MBR you've got there ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It would be a shame if anything ... you know ... happened to it.

  9. Re:Vista Copies Open Source software again? by B_un1t · · Score: 2, Funny

    LOL Silicone Valley...I think Pirates of Silicone Valley was a porn flick...you're thinking of Pirates of Silicon Valley.

  10. Well I just tried it by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 2, Funny

    I had to replace my MBR for it to work, since I had loaded grub into it.

    So I tried to boot into Linux. I must say, I don't remember Linux being a blank screen. I seem to recall it being more interactive...

  11. Answers here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    1. Breaking Apple's Mac OS X license agreement, which says that Mac OS X is to be run only on Apple-branded computers
    2. Pirating Mac OS X (Intel), since Mac OS X (Intel) is not available as a standalone OS at present
    3. Running a horribly hacked version of Mac OS X, with critical pieces of the system modified, including the kernel
    4. Running Mac OS X in an unupdateable state, since any official Apple software updates that overwrite modified pieces of the hacked version of Mac OS X will break it
    5. Running Mac OS X in a state completely unsupported by its vendor
    6. Possibly violating civil or criminal law in your jurisdiction

    1. Aww, I broke their lego castle.
    2. YARRR!
    3. Code by Apple = brilliant. Code by anyone else = horribly hacked. We live in a horribly, horribly hacked world my friend.
    4. I think I'll opt for Horribly Hacked updates, those are more compatible for my system.
    5. That'd be any state outside USA. I'll just put 'Other' here.
    6. Pirate > terrorist > ninja > criminal. I'm already on top of that food ladder, why try harder?